"Blockbuster" Blizzard Set To Hit Major Cities

Well, the rainfall we received last night was associated with a system that is getting ready to absolutely blast the Northeast with snowfall and winds. This system is being referred to as “historic” and life threatening, and will impact cities such as Boston, NYC and Philadelphia with snowfall totals over a foot. NYC and Boston could see upwards of 3 feet of snowfall.

The collective Northeast US right now. h/t giphy.com

Why is this happening? Well, the southern and northern branches of the jet streams are looking to phase together, and create atmospheric conditions favorable for ridiculous snowfall rates. Add in a strong high pressure over southeast Canada and the low pressure system becoming a “weather bomb“, you have a recipe for a very intense blizzard, with higher snowfall rates. The NWS offices in Boston and NYC are even discussing lightning, and 2-4” per hour snowfall rates.

Major #winterStorm expected to bring #hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy #snow to #NewEngland (#blizzardof2015). pic.twitter.com/33UFwQGnQ2

— NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) January 26, 2015

Air traffic will halt at 7:30pm tonight at Logan Airport and WILL NOT RESUME till Thursday or Friday. #travel #blizzardof2015 — Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) January 26, 2015

The Nationwide impact ins phenomenal. It will impact the big cities economically, and socially.

Impressive first look from space at the #blizzardof2015 via @NOAASatellites. http://t.co/KLtoZPq5AX. pic.twitter.com/Tw0AcBBDvE

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) January 26, 2015

Forecasted wind gusts and potential impacts #blizzardof2015 pic.twitter.com/T7F0HlKBRK — CNN Weather Center (@CNNweather) January 26, 2015

Aside from the snow forecast, wind will be just as bad. Expect strong to damaging winds downing trees, powerlines etc pic.twitter.com/Jd9QL57Gvs

— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 26, 2015

Check out the crazy forecast totals from NWS New York and NWS Boston…

Accumulating snow arrives this afternoon & impacts late day commute. Historic Snowfall & Power Outages Possible Tue! pic.twitter.com/EAZKIMq3iX

— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 26, 2015

Here is our latest storm total snow range forecast graphic. pic.twitter.com/0AN8vx7fv9

— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) January 26, 2015

Events like these do pose opportunities to create humor.

“The National Weather Service is warning these areas to brace for… a crippling amount of Instagrammed snow photos.” pic.twitter.com/0jNERKKvox — Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) January 26, 2015

This system is going to impact the whole country, especially from a travel perspective. NYC and Boston are two major travel hubs, and the fact that their airports are essentially closed tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and maybe Thursday is incredibly impactful to the US as a whole. If you have family in the areas forecasted to be impacted most, please make sure that they are taking necessary precautions to be trapped in their homes without power for many days.

Be sure to check out the #blizzardof2015 hashtag on Twitter for even more cool stuff about this storm.